Web bosses delay .xxx decision

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN as it's known to its friends, has announced that it's postponing a decision on whether websites will be able to register a .xxx domain until June

Proponents of the creation of the domain say that it'd make it easier for objectionable content to be filtered out by parents and employers and for the porn industry to clean itself up a little. However, critics say that any such scheme would be voluntary, so many wouldn't apply - and religious groups see it as legitimising porn sites.

The idea of a .xxx domain was first proposed in 2000, and it's been rejected three times since, but the the most recent of those - in 2007 - was questioned by an outside panel, which has prompted ICANN to reopen the bid. ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom told the AP: "There's a lot of complex issues".

The decision will finally be made at ICANN's June meeting in Brussels.